It's all about brains Thursday, October 25 at 7 pm in Bohannon Hall 90. Zombie Fest is back at UMD this year and open to the public. UMD professors will bring their expertise from the departments of medicine, music, philosophy, political science, and exercise science to analyze the walking dead. They will discuss health, government, zombie brain function, and defensive reflexes.

To create a creepy atmosphere, Department of Music Assistant Professor Tracy Lipke-Perry, specializing in piano, will perform parts of the original score from the very first zombie movie filmed, "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari."

UMD Medical School Department of Biomedical Sciences Associate Professor Janet Fitzakerley researches auditory neuroscience and is director of the Brain Awareness Program. She teaches courses on human physiology and pharmacology. She will share her expertise of the brain to shed light on zombie brain function.

Department of Political Science Associate Professor Jeremy Youde will discuss the global threat of a zombie pandemic, specifically with regards to the role that international governance would play in response to an outbreak.

Department of Philosophy Assistant Professor Shane Courtland will explore the theory of Utilitarianism and the connection between self-interest and moral obligation in survival-based decision-making in a zombie-infested world.

Department Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Associate Professor Morris Levy teaches about human biomechanics and statistical methods in exercise. He will dissect the physical conditions of both the slow, undead zombies, and the fast, living zombies and how these physical conditions affect attack strategies of a zombie horde.

Jason Davis is an Information Technology Manager at UMD and teaches martial arts classes through the Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Department. He is a second-degree black belt in jujutsu; he will give demonstrations of both the strengths and downfalls of traditional jujutsu in a zombie encounter.

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